Abraham On Toucher & Rich: Bradley Probably Not Starting Season With Red Sox
The Red Sox open up their regular season in New York against the Yankees on April 1st and the Sox are looking to improve from last season's 69-93 failure.
Red Sox insider Peter Abraham joined Ryan Johnston and WBZ-TV's Dan Roche, who were filling in for Toucher & Rich, to discuss this Sox team as spring training winds down, Jackie Bradley Jr., Daniel Bard and David Ortiz.
Bradley's hitting .444 in spring training and many fans are probably thinking that the 22-year-old will have to be joining the big club at the close of camp. Will we see Bradley in a Red Sox uniform on opening day?
"He's not probably going to start the season with the team and it's really related to the collective bargaining agreement and free agency because if he does spend the whole year with the team he would become a free agent early."
Read: Why The Red Sox Would Be Crazy To Start Season With Jackie Bradley Jr.
If the Sox keep Bradley in the minors for 11 days to start the season, they will be able to keep him under team control for an extra season, so we still might be seeing the young outfielder this season. What are the Red Sox players, coaches and front office guys saying about Bradley's performance in spring training?
Pitcher Daniel Bard struggled last season with the Sox and was sent down to Pawtuckett during the season after a particularly bad game against Toronto. Bard continued to have issues with the Triple A club. The hopes were that new manager John Farrell would be able to help the pitcher work out the issues. Could he be left out of the bullpen when camp breaks?
Plus, David Ortiz took some more swings, but hasn't really run the bases and what could the opening day lineup look like?
